Lastest news

OECD countries will not close the gender pay gap for at least 50 years if we continue at the current pace of progress, despite the potential economic gains, writes Ger McDonough To mark International Women’s Day, PwC released the results of our Women in Work Index, assessing women’s employment outcomes across 33 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. The Women in Work (WIW) Index shows that female workforce participation across the 33 OECD countries increased slightly in 2021. Progress towards gender equality remains too slow, however.  In fact, based on OECD countries’ gender pay gap of 14 percent in 2021 and historical rates of progress towards gender pay equality, our findings show that it will take more than 50 years to close the gender pay gap. This means that a 20-year old woman entering the workforce today will not see pay equality in her working lifetime. At the same time, our analysis also shows that, by closing the gender pay gap, OECD countries could make trillion-dollar gains. By increasing women’s average wages to match those of their male counterparts across the OECD, female earnings would rise by more than US$2 trillion per annum, our research has found.  In Ireland, closing the gender pay gap could boost women’s earnings by US$4.32 billion per annum (8%) and increasing women’s employment could boost Irish GDP by US$50 billion per annum or nine percent. Ireland ranks in 12th place overall out of the 33 OECD countries in our latest WIW Index, up from 15th place in the year prior. This improvement was in large part due to a rise in the female labour participation rate from 65.6 percent to 69.6 percent. Our research also reveals that just 25 percent of women in Ireland have an established plan to advance their career with their current employer, however, compared to 35 percent of women globally.  If the rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we can’t rely on economic growth alone to produce gender equality—unless we want to wait another 50 years or more. Employers can make a material improvement to women's empowerment in the workplace now by focusing on fair reward, autonomy, inclusive leadership and instituting a data-driven diversity strategy. Women working full-time in person have the lowest empowerment score in our WIW Index. This trend follows suit for men—suggesting that autonomy over how, where and when people work fuels feelings of empowerment across the workforce. According to our WIW Index, the women who are most empowered also have greater opportunity to work remotely (74%). However, close to half (48%) of women can’t do their job remotely.  Of the 11,285 women who can, 29 percent are working remotely full-time, and 56 percent had some level of hybrid work pattern. Autonomy fuels empowerment for both women and men, but women currently have less autonomy over how, when and where they work.  Demand for flexibility is a talent-wide proposition, and one that cannot be ignored by employers as they seek to enhance diversity, fuel engagement and innovation, and position themselves as an employer of choice. Ger McDonough is Partner and Leader of the People and Organisation Consulting Practice at PwC Ireland 

There are many reasons why our confidence can falter. Dawn Leane explains how we can overcome our self-doubt and silence our inner critic so we can achieve our goals In the workplace, being confident means feeling self-assured and believing we are capable of achieving our objectives. We often think that confidence is intrinsic; we either have it, or we don’t. In fact, our relationship with confidence is more likely to be influenced by our conditioning, life experiences and environmental factors. Handling feedback Confidence is one of those words that often triggers an emotional response in us, particularly if we struggle with it. We’ve all had an experience where we make a proposal or suggestion and have it critiqued. If we work in a psychologically safe environment, we take feedback from colleagues and leaders at face value. We appreciate the input and guidance and trust that the motivation is to help us refine and improve the idea. However, if the environment is not psychologically safe, we are much more likely to receive such feedback negatively. Perhaps we perceive it as criticism, a chance to settle a score or ‘mark our card’. This is especially true when our work is deeply personal and connected to our values and sense of self. In this situation, it can be hard to avoid internalising or personalising feedback—and when we do, it has the potential to erode our confidence. Limiting beliefs While our environment is hugely significant in determining our level of self-assurance, we are also influenced by our own limiting beliefs. A limiting belief is a state of mind or belief we think to be true, but one which will limit our potential. A limiting belief could be about you, your relationships with other people, or with the work environment. Self-limiting beliefs have the greatest potential to negatively impact our ability to achieve our full potential and are usually developed in response to our experiences, and because we are shaped by these limiting beliefs, we then go on to adopt behaviours that reinforce them. While many of our beliefs are formed as we grow up, we can develop new ones as we grow. Our inner critic Everyone has a voice in their head that reinforces their worst fears – an inner critic. The voice may be a whisper, or it may be so loud that it paralyses us. The voice holds us back from trying new experiences and rubs failure in our faces. It is possible to let go of limiting beliefs and tune out the inner critic, however. People can develop new ways of thinking and behaving that can help to create a positive narrative for themselves. To help silence your inner critic and build your confidence, there are several steps you can take: Identify any self-limiting beliefs and the behaviours that have resulted from them; Consider where these beliefs might have come from; Reflect on instances where these beliefs have been shown to be incorrect; and Decide on new behaviours to replace the limiting beliefs, then practice and reinforce them After acknowledging a self-limiting belief when it occurs, learn to replace it with something else. Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, has a simple but effective solution: add the word ‘yet’ to any limiting belief. For example: ‘I don’t have much experience at public speaking… yet.’ By adding ‘yet’, it allows you to acknowledge your shortfalls while also identifying that you are actively working on correcting it. Finding confidence Being a self-assured person without doubt is a lofty goal and probably not a realistic one. Acknowledging your limiting beliefs and working on silencing your inner critic is important, however. Your confidence will rise and you will be far more likely to achieve your objectives no matter the environment. Dawn Leane is the Founder of Leane Leaders

As the fastest growing consumer app ever to launch, ChatGPT has the potential to support and enhance marketing for accountancy firms. Maryrose Lyons explains why By now, you’ve probably heard of ChatGPT. As the fastest growing consumer app ever to launch, it reached 100 million monthly active users in January, just two months after going live. ChatGPT marks the start of the mass adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). Hailed by Bill Gates as the biggest innovation in technology since the invention of the internet, it is just one of the many AI tools that are taking the marketing world by storm. The question is: have you thought about how you might use it to improve your marketing efforts? ChatGPT is an advanced language model that is capable of understanding natural language and generating human-like responses. It’s a chatbot with a range of applications, including in the area of marketing. With ChatGPT, accounting firms could potentially enhance their marketing efforts by engaging with their customers more quickly and in a more personalised manner. When applied thoughtfully, the results could be impressive. Personalisation One of the key benefits of ChatGPT for marketing your organisation is its ability to generate personalised marketing messages and content. By analysing customer data and behaviour, ChatGPT has capacity to generate targeted content that is tailored to the needs and interests of specific customers. This could increase engagement and conversion rates and help businesses to build stronger relationships with their customers. Automation In addition to personalisation, ChatGPT could also save time and resources by automating repetitive tasks such as email campaigns and content creation. This has the potential to free up marketing staff to focus on more strategic or creative activities. In the case of owner-managers doing marketing themselves, it could also save valuable time. By using ChatGPT to automate repetitive tasks, businesses could streamline their marketing efforts and improve efficiency. Embrace AI At this point in time, just three months into its evolution, incorporating ChatGPT into your workflow could give your organisation a competitive edge, particularly for businesses that are early adopters. If you are an accountant with responsibility for marketing your business, or you employ marketers to do it for you, ChatGPT is a tool worth considering. Who wouldn’t want to leverage AI and take their marketing efforts to the next level? ChatGPT will not replace marketers, but marketers who use ChatGPT could have a competitive edge. My advice? Don’t fear AI. Embrace ChatGPT and the potential benefits it could bring to your marketing today. Maryrose Lyons is the Founder of Brightspark, a future-focused marketing consultancy Brightspark offers a Digital Marketing with ChatGPT course. Learn about the AI tools that free up time for staff to focus on higher-value tasks. Understand the rapidly evolving digital landscape. Experiment and implement, under the expert guidance of Maryrose Lyons.

The Windsor Framework provides for the smoother flow of goods between Britain and Northern Ireland, but is it enough? asks Eoin O’Shea It's been just over ten years since David Cameron, the UK's then Prime Minister, unveiled the idea of holding a referendum on EU membership. On that fateful day, 23 January 2013, Cameron made the rather prophetic statement: "If we leave the EU, we cannot, of course, leave Europe. It will remain for many years our biggest market, and forever our geographical neighbourhood. We are tied by a complex web of legal commitments." The latest addition to the post-Brexit tsunami of legal commitments entered into by the UK and the EU, including a 177-page Withdrawal Agreement and a 2,530-page Trade and Co-Operation agreement, is the Windsor Framework. The Windsor Agreement aims to update the 63-page Northern Ireland Protocol agreed by the UK and EU as part of the Withdrawal Agreement.  The Windsor Framework – in reality, several legal and political documents – was launched last week by the president of the EU's executive branch, Ursula Von Der Leyen, and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Windsor Guildhall.    The Windsor Framework came about because the Northern Ireland Protocol to the Withdrawal Agreement operated, in parts, like a manual for a United Ireland. Back when former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was 'getting Brexit done', there was a fear that Ireland, north and south, might have different laws concerning trade, the movement of goods, customs, taxes and the like, leading to a hard border on the island of Ireland. To counter such a border, it was decided by the UK and the EU that Britain would have its own British laws on those border/market/trade issues, and the Island of Ireland (north and south) would follow EU rules. Leaving Northern Ireland subject to EU laws, the oversight of the EU court of justice in Luxembourg, and the full panoply of EU officialdom. One view of the Northern Ireland protocol was that it permitted goods to flow between Northern Ireland and Ireland/EU without customs checks, duties, or paperwork. It also allowed for the free movement of goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.   Economist John Fitzgerald dubbed the situation as providing "unique dual access to both the British and the EU markets". Similarly, Michael Gove, then a member of the UK cabinet, stated: "That means that businesses in Northern Ireland have the opportunity to enjoy the best of both worlds; access to the European single market, because there's no infrastructure on the Island of Ireland, and at the same time unfettered access to the rest of the UK market." Unfortunately, the Northern Ireland protocol didn't work. Neither politically nor economically.  Excessive paperwork and administrative uncertainty made it difficult, expensive, and slow for goods to move to and from Northern Ireland and Britain. Imports and exports between Ireland and Northern Ireland skyrocketed as businesses in Northern Ireland found buying goods from Ireland/EU easier than from the neighbouring island. In the first five months of 2022, for example, exports from Ireland to Northern Ireland increased by 42 percent compared to the previous year. Politically, the original Northern Ireland protocol caused significant problems, including a boycott of the Stormont Assembly by the DUP and a threat by the UK to unilaterally override, with domestic legislation, the Protocol's operation.  All sides were fearful for the continued operation of the Good Friday Agreement and the possibility that relationships between communities within Northern Ireland and north/south and east/west ties could be negatively affected, perhaps for a generation. In short, all roads have been leading to last week's Windsor Framework for some time.  The highlights of the Framework include the following: The introduction of a trusted trader system in Britain to facilitate smoother transport of goods to Northern Ireland; Identity and physical checks on goods are to be drastically reduced; The same food will be available on supermarket shelves in Northern Ireland as in the rest of the UK; Goods moving from Britain to Northern Ireland that are destined for the EU or at risk of entering the EU will be subject to full customs checks and controls; People in Northern Ireland will be able to get medicines, including new medicines, at the same time and under the same conditions as people in the rest of the UK; Certain goods travelling from Britain to Northern Ireland may carry labelling "not for EU", ensuring that products remain in Northern Ireland; Consumer-to-consumer parcels will be entirely exempt from the main customs requirements; Travel to and from Britain with pets will be easier and require reduced documentation; Garden centres in Northern Ireland will have an easier time stocking plants, shrubs, trees and seeds from Britain; The UK has agreed to share live data with the EU on movements of goods from Britain to Northern Ireland to give additional comfort to the EU that goods transfer rules are being adhered to and that the single market is not at risk; and The number of proposed changes to the application of EU VAT and excise duty requirements to Northern Ireland.  It has been agreed that members of the Northern Ireland Assembly might, by way of a 'Stormont Brake', to stop new EU law from applying in Northern Ireland (as a last resort). It is also proposed by the parties that there be enhanced involvement of Northern Ireland interests in the operation of the joint committees set up between the UK and the EU on the management of relationships. As can be seen, the arrangements under the Windsor Framework provide for a much smoother flow of goods between Britain and Northern Ireland than was the case under the Northern Ireland protocol. But, as also can be seen, the arrangements are not as smooth as before Brexit. Eoin O'Shea is a Barrister at Law and Chartered Accountant

Ireland’s housing market is in trouble – could raising the mortgage limit ease property prices while retaining affordability? Marc Coan discusses As interest rates rise, residential property prices have come under pressure, but the Central Bank raising the mortgage limit from 3.5 to four times income from the 1 January this year may open up significant new demand and prop up prices longer term. This will cause concern for some, but are house prices the real issue, or are policymakers and opposition parties missing the point? During a recent webinar, economist Ronan Lyons threw new light on the link between building costs, house prices and supply. Simply put, the more significant the gap between house prices and costs, the greater the supply of new housing. If a developer can make a tidy profit, they will develop more units until supply eventually catches up with demand and prices fall. In a free market, there are then just two ways to make more houses available: Reduce building costs; and Increase house prices. Lyon’s analysis suggests that, for the country to hit anything like the 30,000 completions target in the government’s Housing for All strategy, building costs would have to fall by close to 40 percent. With rising energy costs recently sending material and labour costs spiralling out of control, this seems unlikely. Sure, the government can introduce tax reliefs for development to stall rising costs but putting them into reverse seems a very tall order. So, with cutting costs ruled out as an option, let’s turn instead to increasing house prices to get supply back on track. The real issue with the housing market isn’t housing prices, it’s housing affordability, which is not quite the same thing. What if we could raise prices in the housing market without reducing affordability? Although this sounds counterintuitive, there are ways to do it. One is to increase the effective income of house buyers through grants or tax reliefs. This is the thinking behind the First Home scheme. Yet, there is one other significant weapon to increase housing affordability: credit. Simply loosening the current Central Bank mortgage lending rules increases house prices and developer profits. In turn, it will likely increase the supply of new homes and housing affordability for many who previously couldn’t buy a home. This is because the Central Bank mortgage rules have locked out thousands of potential homeowners and trapped them in the rental market. This has driven monthly rents way above monthly mortgage repayments. By lifting the 3.5 times lending cap imposed by the Central Bank, three things are likely to happen: Housing affordability will rise as currently trapped renters move to a monthly mortgage; House prices will also rise as renters can now compete with investors for property; and Housing supply will increase as developers greenlight projects that didn’t make financial sense previously. Doesn’t that create a credit-fuelled housing bubble like we had in 2008? That seems unlikely for a couple of reasons. First, we already know people can afford to pay these mortgages as they pay considerably more monthly rent. Second, even if you completely removed the Central Bank limits, the barriers to getting a mortgage are still way higher than in 2008. The rules imposed on Irish banks by the European banking regulators post-2008 already prevented Irish banks from engaging in reckless lending. While it was understandable that the Central Bank would take a safety-first approach post-2008, it put the kibosh on many lower- and middle-income families owning their own homes, trapping them into paying spiralling rent, making them poorer and increasing social inequality. We should be glad to see the back of the 3.5 limit, property investors will welcome the increased purchasing power it creates in a time of rising interest rates, and the public will welcome the inevitable result: more homes being built. Mark Coan is Founder of online finance guide moneysherpa.ie. All views are those of the author. This article was first published on The FM Report.

Outdated content on your website can make your organisation seem out of touch to potential clients. Maryrose Lyons explains how your site can go from confusing to consistent As websites grow larger and more complex, they can become overwhelming and confusing for the site owner and visitors. Outdated or underperforming content can negatively impact search results and user experience. To avoid this, it's important to conduct regular site audits. A site audit is an analysis of the components that make a website visible on search engines. It aims to give the owner insight into the content on their site, what is being seen by their audience and how it’s being picked up by search engines. Auditing your organisation’s website can determine whether it's optimised to achieve your traffic goals, giving you a sense of how you can improve the site to reach those goals. More eyes on your website can translate to more clients. Step 1: Categorise posts Download a list of content titles currently on your site and categorise each one based on general categories, such as services, news, or careers. Then group each category by theme. Under services, for example, you could list audit, tax, or business advisory. Finally, find 24 unique themes under which you can categorise individual posts. This step is time-consuming, but necessary, in determining what is still relevant to the business. One theme could be ‘Budget 2010’, for example. Information you will find under this theme is no longer relevant to your business or your clients and so can be deleted. However, ‘Budget 2023’ should definitely stick around. Step 2: Evaluate engagement Use a search engine optimisation (SEO) tool to analyse organic search traffic and backlink profiles for each post. Take note of engagement levels to determine which posts generate traffic. Low traffic means you can delete that post. High traffic means that you should not only keep that post, but also possibly explore the same theme in future content. When we carried out our own site audit, it was interesting to see how the nature of the content had changed since 2007. Before the advent of social media, all of our short-form posts were published on our blog. Nowadays, many of these would be status updates on social channels. Step 3: Update and tidy up Once you have identified your high-performing content, read through it all to see what needs to be updated. This step ensures that valuable content remains current and relevant to users. Consistent content By conducting a site audit, your organisation will have a cleaner, leaner, and much more navigable website that offers clear and consistent content. Regular site audits help maintain a positive user experience and strong search engine rankings. Though the process can be tedious, it's well worth the effort. Maryrose Lyons is Founder of Brightspark Consulting Brightspark Consulting is offering a new course to teach leaders how to utilise AI to create a digital marketing plan and produce content. Find more information on ChatGPT training here.